This has not been a good day.....
 
When I checked on the ferrets at midnight, last night (Monday), Tyler was
fine - a little sleepy, of course, but in good spirits and perfectly willing
to share a short cuddle before I tucked him in for the rest of the night.
All signs pointed to continued recovery from his spinal injury, and both Dr.
Klein and I were very optimistic about his chances.  (He'd recovered about
75% use of his back legs so far, and complete control of his bowels/bladder.)
 
This morning (Tuesday), Tyler was extremely lethargic, and vomiting blood.
I got him to the clinic ASAP, but had a feeling that he wasn't going to make
it.  He went into cardiac arrest and died shortly before 9:00 a.m, in spite
of the best that Dr. Klein could do.
 
When she did the necropsy, Dr. Klein found his upper GI tract filled with
frothy blood.  There were no *visible* lesions; samples of his tissue are
being tested for microscopic lesions.  His intestines showed no blood, and
there was absolutely no blood in his stools.  Please note, Tyler had shown
NO signs of ulcer or gastric irritation at all before this.  He had not been
grinding his teeth, and he was eating well and not losing any weight.  His
stools had been completely normal.  He was alert and interested in
everything going on around him.  Monday night, less than 10 hours before he
died, he showed no signs of distress at all.
 
We're hoping the test results can give us more information about what
happened and why.  In the meantime, all I can do is cry for a small, spunky
ferret.....
 
And cry for Mikey, too, who's wondering where his best buddy is.
 
My prayers are with everyone who's also recently lost a ferret, and with
those who are fighting in Michigan, and in California.  Bless you all.
 
Carla
[Posted in FML issue 1926]